To provide cloud-based software solutions, such as “software-as-a-service” (SaaS) applications, to multiple customers via a communication network such as the Internet, one or more server systems may be capable of executing multiple applications in response to customer requests. To enable each server access to a consistent set of applications, these applications may be deployed to an electronic file repository accessible by the servers. In most situations, the file repository includes all of the executable binary files, configuration files, and the like that are necessary for executing the applications of interest on the servers. For example, Java® class files, configuration files, and so on may be retrieved from a file repository, deployed on a server, and made available to client systems as a software-as-a-service.
In some implementations, the file repository may facilitate server access to the files located therein by way of a standard hierarchically-organized file system, with files, file folders, and so on. In other examples, the file repository may provide access by way of a version control system (VCS), which may facilitate the selection and use of multiple versions of the same software, thus allowing customers to employ a particular version that is not necessarily the newest version available. In one example, such capability may be important if a newer software version is discovered to create problems not ordinarily experienced during execution of older versions.
Typically, the file repository facilitates access only to files within that file repository, which may include one or more software databases. As a result, other files not located in the repository that may be useful for the execution of a particular application arc not generally available through the repository. In other examples, repositories at one or more server sites may each provide essentially the same binary files and configuration files to provide the same set of applications to customers located at geographically diverse locations, thus likely resulting in duplicate copies of the same files throughout multiple server sites of the same service provider.